Quilt Odyssey Retreat, Day 1!

Hello from Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania!

I arrived yesterday afternoon, taking the historic and very scenic Route 30, otherwise known as the Lincoln Highway all the way from Schellsburg to where it meets interstate 81 outside of Chambersburg. 

Such a GORGEOUS drive, and while I know the PA turnpike can cut off much of the time it took for me to drive here over every windy hairpin turn and “through town” speed limit changes, I was in no hurry to get here and it was a beautiful day for a long drive.

From Wikipedia:

Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913, the Lincoln Highway ran coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.

The Lincoln Highway was America's first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, predating the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., by nine years.

As the first automobile road across America, the Lincoln Highway brought great prosperity to the hundreds of cities, towns and villages along the way. The Lincoln Highway became affectionately known as "The Main Street Across America"

And so I took it – from Schellsburg to Chambersburg!

We set up for retreat with the ladies arriving around 3pm, setting up our sewing stations and enjoying our first dinner together.

After my presentation last night, open sewing commenced – but I didn’t stay long.  I’d been up since 6am and my bed was calling me!

Besides, I needed to be ready to start this weekend’s retreat project: Fair and square from Scraps & Shirttails II!

Sew Much Stringy Fun!

This is a two block quilt, so today we worked on the string blocks, tomorrow we will do the checkerboard blocks.

Just a quicky slide show as I prepare to run off for dinner.

Click the image below if you are unable to view the slide show on your mobile device, you’ll be taken to the photo album for viewing.

Fair & Square, Day 1, Boiling Springs PA 2015

I’m all set to sew for my evening too!

There is a new guide in the house.

I can’t find the Scotch Restickable Mounting Strips that I have been using as a seam guide –I don’t know if they quit making them, but there are none to be found in any of my travels.  So I need something new.  And in a hurry.

I prefer a stationary guide when sewing for many reasons, but I want one that doesn’t fuzz up and scootch over the way that moleskin does, and it has to stick better than post it notes.

It has to be LOW enough that I can do stitch and flip corners without removing the guide from my machine.

And most of all, it has to stick for more than 5 minutes and come unstuck like the purple vinyl strips and some others do.

This is my first run with these.

Damage Free Poster Strips.

There are 12 in a package for about $2.50 or less.  They stick just fine, and I put the rounded pull tab end toward the back of my machine so it didn’t catch my fabric as I sew.

Within 30 minutes the top peel and stick paper that you see with red writing also fell off.  I stuck a piece of masking tape on top of it so the top didn’t have the sticky revealed.

So far it is doing okay, but time will tell the more I use it and find out if it does stay stuck down – or if it wiggles and shifts and the edges lift up like moleskin.

Tonight we’ve got Show & Share at 7pm, and then the night is ours for sewing on whatever we want!

There is also a hot tub.

Oh, and fun thing of all fun things – there is a play house here with real musical theater. Many of us have tickets to see the live performance of The Fantastiks tomorrow at 8pm!

I can’t wait!

Better go join everyone for dinner – have a great evening, everyone!

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